


Local Gay Bird Suffers in a Starbucks

by Tales_Of_Chrom



Category: Fire Emblem Series, Fire Emblem: Kakusei | Fire Emblem: Awakening
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Drabble, I have no idea how starbucks works ha ha, M/M, Semi-realistic coffee shop au, or something like that
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-04-28
Updated: 2016-04-28
Packaged: 2018-06-05 00:39:03
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,676
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6682474
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Tales_Of_Chrom/pseuds/Tales_Of_Chrom
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>If one more person ordered a double caramel frap with three espresso shots and exactly one and a half servings of whip cream then Robin would die, right there at the counter.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Local Gay Bird Suffers in a Starbucks

**Author's Note:**

> I saw some person yammering about realistic coffee shop AUs on Tumblr and I was inspired. Not my finest work but I wanted to get it all down before my muse completely left me.

If one more person ordered a double caramel frap with three espresso shots and exactly one and a half servings of whip cream then Robin would die, right there at the counter. He’d curl up and cease existing for a minute or two, but then he’d have to go back to work. Life was cruel like that.

Not everyone was a rude hoe, but working at a Starbucks two stores away from a gas station had its unique qualities. There were locals but most of the time there were travelers; the sort of people that had probably been sitting in a car for three to four hours and needed to either desperately use their restroom or desperately needed some kind of caffeine. The one thing they always seemed dangerously low on at the end of the long days was expresso. The daily average was two shots teetering dangerously close to three. 

Robin wished he could straight up inject himself with the stuff. He was usually exhausted a mere hour after the start of his shift. Making the coffee and working alongside his fellow torture victims was hardly the tiring aspect of his job. The customers… oh the customers. The thought of them made Robin want to tear his hair out. Why were the majority of them all so infuriatingly rude? Not to mention loud. Did the sound of their car driving make their eardrums rupture?

The barista all but slammed his elbows on the slightly chipped counter, leaning over just slightly so he could rest his chin on his fists. Normally he cherished the moments of peace between the normally steady trickle of customers, but lately the little tastes of quiet between them meant there would be a huge rush of customers coming in and soon. Oh the joy.

The pale haired college student let his eyes close, exhaling loudly from his nose.

__  
‘Keep it together. Just four more hours left. Four more hours until freedom.’  


Calloused fingers that had more than one or two burn scars massaged his temples firmly, preparing himself for what was to come. His moment of meditation was only interrupted by a firm clap on the shoulder. 

“Don’t worry, Robin. I can always run the register if you’re ever feeling overwhelmed.” The voice said, oddly cheerful despite how long the owner of it had been working at this location in particular. 

Robin almost sobbed. Sumia, what a blessing of a co-worker. She should have been shipped off to a better location ages ago as a manager. God knows why she stuck around in this hellish place.

The man opened his eyes and turned his head slightly, a weak smile on his lips as his shoulders sagged further. “You’re a gift, Sumia. You know that?”

A giggle. “This is the third time you’ve called me that today.”

“I speak nothing but the truth to you.”

“Oh you.” The hand that had gripped his shoulder gave said shoulder a playful swat, which was more of a playful punch, but Robin said nothing. She could never hurt a fly- on purpose at least. 

Their short exchange was cut shorter as someone walked in. Robin quickly righted himself and brushed his hands down his apron even though the action hardly rid it of wrinkles. His smile was friendly as he greeted the woman robotically though she didn’t even look up from her phone. Robin grimaced internally. What a great start. 

No sooner had he handed over the change a few more people walked in. And then a few more. And then more. It was the rush he had been dreading. 

His robotic greeting hadn’t even garnered a response yet. The false smile he wore was beginning to crack but it would hold for a few more hours, it had to. After the twelfth customer barked some obscenely complicated drink order at him Robin had half a mind to take Sumia up on her kind offer but she was clearly the more efficient drink constructor of the two. They couldn’t afford to swap positions, not during the rush. So Robin stood there and suffered, the tight smile ever present on his face.

The man dragged his hand from the register to the counter, pressing down just slightly on his other hand as he greeted the next customer. God strike him down.

“Hello, Sir. How can I help you today?”

“Hi- uh, Robin. Pretty fun weather today, am I right?”

Robin’s eyebrows wanted to raise but the owner of them refused to let them do so. Someone had made small talk, and they had bothered to read his name tag. It was so…. Refreshing. He wasn’t going to cry or anything, but some of his lost energy returned to him, if just for a moment.

“Yeah, I’d say. I haven’t seen the wind blow this hard in the long time. It’s a miracle it isn’t raining yet.” He chuckled and raising his eyes to actually look the other man in the eyes, something he normally did not do with other customers.

Kind blue eyes met his weary gaze and Robin felt his cheeks warm just slightly. What was a nice guy like this doing at Starbucks? Didn’t guys like him like Dutch Brothers or something? 

“I feel like it is going to rain soon. I kinda hope it doesn’t though. I’m not exactly dressed for that kind of weather.” 

“You and I both.”

The man’s laughter warmed the space between them considerably. It was pathetic how easily he melted when shown a scrap of kindness. Then again, he didn’t get much of it in his line of work.

A conversation of his never seemed to last long at work because before the blue eyed man could actually say what he wanted to order someone cleared their throat and by the sound of it she was cross as hell. Robin’s teeth clamped down on the tip of his tongue as he composed himself. The gall of some people-

“Ma’am? Is there something wrong?”

The woman scoffed as if he should already know what the problem was. “The bathroom is a mess. Don’t you people ever clean it?”

God dammit where the hell was Libra when he needed him. The man and his endless supply of patience was absent from the coffee establishment only because he was the one taking over Robin’s shift later. The understaffing was purely the result of no one wanting to work at their location.

“I’m terribly sorry, ma’am. I’ll see to it after I get this man’s order down.”

The woman was dissatisfied with his answer but she left him be so Robin turned back to the blue eyed customer, fingers already brushing across the keyboard as he asked the man what he wanted.

The kind customer gave Robin a sympathetic look before placing his surprisingly innocent order. Two hot chocolates. The white haired barista punched in the order and took the man’s money, handing over the change and offering him one last tired smile. The man seemed to consider something before dumping all his change into the tip box, patting his hand on the counter in a way that seemed to say “good luck” before leaving to go wait for his order.

Robin nudged Sumia on his way to the bathroom. All he had to do was jerk his chin towards the bathroom and she understood. 

“Get the two hot chocolates for me while I go do that.”

“For who?”

“Chrom.”

“Gotcha. I’ll get it.”

The moment Robin disappeared into the bathroom Sumia grabbed two cups, scrawling Chrom’s name on them both before printing Robin’s number on one of them, adding a heart for good measure. She had seen the whole exchange. There was no way she wasn’t going to try and do them both a favor. 

-

With his shift over and done with, Robin trudged to his car and essentially collapsed in his seat to let loose the loudest yawn sigh hybrid ever known to mankind. There had only been a handful of customers who had bearable attitudes. Maybe he should just change jobs and get out while he still could. Waiting tables somewhere would probably be better, if only his arm strength wasn't so laughable….

Robin rubbed at his eyes and plucked his phone out from his glove department to check and see if his lab partner had texted him back about their project, but instead of his lab partner making yet another excuse over a text; he had a missed call from a cell phone within his area code. Normally Robin would dismiss those sorts of things, but he was in post-shift mode in the front seat of his car watching little drops of rain fly nearly horizontally from the strong winds outside. He had nothing better to do and nowhere he had to be.  

The man pressed the button his phone and held the worn device up to his ear, fully expecting to hear some kind of pre recorded telemarketer only to hear some guy fumble on words. Robin could barely make out what he was saying but he did manage to pick up “I’m the guy from earlier. Chrom. You gave me your number on my hot chocolate so I thought-” and then Robin wasn’t listening anymore. He did not give the guy his number, he was in the bathroom cleaning shit (literally). So how the hell did he get his number?

He let the message run to a close and stared at the glowing rectangular screen for a good minute or so before it hit him. Sumia. Robin shook his head and ran his fingers through his hair, musing the slightly damp locks in exasperation. For a good friend she sure frequently stuck her nose in business that didn’t concern her.

Chrom was obviously a nice guy but they had only spoken for a minute at best, then again it had been the best minute of his entire shift.

After a few moments of deliberation he pressed the dial button. After all, he had nothing to lose.

**Author's Note:**

> Sumia is best wingman


End file.
